Increase.

Ireland’s World Cup warm-up campaign isn’t exactly going according to plan so far. A lacklustre performance against Italy was followed up by an embarrassing record defeat at the hands of England on Saturday.

The 2018 Grand Slam champions have been on a downward spiral since defeating the All Blacks at the Aviva Stadium back in November – and understandably, Irish fans are worried.

Former England boss Clive Woodward said on Saturday that he would be “worried” if he was Joe Schmidt and it appears the Ireland boss is because he’s already taking drastic action.

Captain Rory Best was scheduled for a media event in Dublin tomorrow afternoon but an email was circulated today to let us know that it would no longer be taking place.

Best’s appearance has been pushed back to the 9th of September due to “increased training commitments” – meaning Schmidt and his team have clearly decided to up the ante following Saturday’s humiliation.

Let’s hope it has the desired effect ahead of Ireland’s next warm-up game against Wales on Saturday.